you know. with the imminent departure of u.s. defense secretary james mattis. water is making a comeback after a full page. warning. the u.s. has criticized the cooperation between the associated press and china's agency. for propaganda. with. a us judge. who died after being released from north korean custody.

every hour this is international welcome to. the u.s. defense secretary spent his christmas working at the pentagon even after donald trump's decision to remove him from office two months earlier than he had planned to resign. wrote this holiday to american soldiers in this world awash in change you hold the line. because of you you'll fellow citizens safe at home. last week after the u.s. president announced his decision to withdraw troops from syria he also advised donald trump to keep troops in afghanistan opposing the idea of using private contractors in a war there now it seems that's precisely what could be happening next. imagine you're sitting there on your porch reading about guns and huntin and all

things good and then you see this ad we are coming blackwater judging by the logo the infamous private security group who is trigger happy antics further disgrace the very name mercenary. for the person that. they were dead bodies everywhere and this is the argument in which you keep it it's not among the dead bodies lying on the street that's which of course is in the building seven years old.

just last week a former blackwater contractor was charged with first degree murder for his part in that slow thought it was then that things went easy for the mercenary group which was then rebranded renamed and resold into obscurity but it's presumably back now in a state suspend dearly in blood and treasure in time in afghanistan every prince co-founder of the original blackwater now that everyone's fearful over trumps of ghana's down withdrawal erik prince sees an opportunity the option i was pushing the options that were considered by some of the. white house an irregular warfare option that would use cia capability special forces capability some contract

a capability to strengthen to give a skeletal support structure to the afghan security forces prince is selling a new kind of war private war war waged not by governments but by corporations the plan is simple six thousand mercenaries backed up by a few thousand u.s. special forces guys give them a small air force private their force and the glue cost to about five billion dollars a year a year for reference the afghan war has cost on average five billion a month for seventeen years but the pentagon is reluctant you just can't trust national security priest these reputation to merck's to guys willing to kill for money when the american put to put their mission credibility on the line

privatizing it is probably not a wise idea every prince has been absent for years he's been selling this plan since he found out that the president wanted to get out of afghanistan the president was right to campaign against endless wars and he resented her message to hand he's going to all the maddest for this to happen if we leave decisions on warfare soley to the pentagon we will be at war for well mr prince had been new year to you james mattis u.s. secretary of defense will leave his post on the first of january and john bolton trumps security advisor is much more pliable there are always a lot of discussions i find helpful i'm always open to new ideas but the issue here is different it's more about principles about morals we know how blackwater behaved in iraq we know what they did when. they had immunity they ran wild they shot and

killed with abandon would you trust the same people to run an entire war every prince's selling point may not be that he's cheaper it's that trump and the pentagon will become less accountable gotta start will no longer be entirely their responsibility if blackwater whoever al smetters up at the be on their heads and it'll all be written off to plausible deniability and corporate bureaucracy so what do you think worth a try letting mercenaries run an entire war. the us congress has expressed concern over a new cooperation deal between the associated press and chinese news agencies in who are its worried china might exploit the american outlet has an instrument of propaganda as you go to turn off now explains us government is on red alert this

time quite literally after the a.p. news agencies signed a memorandum of understanding with the chinese counterparts who are the letter lawmakers sent to the boss of associated press explains that senior journalists are well basically all spies and shouldn't be dealt with at all. singh who are serve some of the functions of an intelligence agency by gathering information and producing classified reports for the chinese leadership on both domestic and international events the congressmen and women who signed the letter seem to be a bit out of the loop though because here's a newsflash a.p. and seeing who are have been partners since nineteen seventy two this memorandum is something of an official pinky promise to stay friends and make each other's jobs easier the reason them all of understanding updates a relationship that has been consistently the same since one thousand nine hundred

two and opens the possibility for future commercial interactions it does not include or envision any sharing for its official intelligence information or any other technology and normally this indeed would be way under the radar of the us government but this time the chinese are involved democrats and republicans often seem like they're ready to rip each other's heads off but as soon as beaching gets in the picture oh they sing in tune nine is effort overtake the united states as oral preeminence over power china is totally eating our lunch they intend not just to supply america but all countries on earth and the west china is ruthless in how they go after us we're in a fight with china we have to ride to china tyler earlier this year the wall street journal reported that washington was mewling branding seen hawaii as a nasty foreign agent this is what happened without seeing the us this is what al-jazeera has so far been avoiding the interesting thing the bell congressional

letter is on the one hand they want to. protect u.s. national security but they're trying to protect the country claims. a free enterprise system of companies over. to tree with counterparts only domestically but around the world so on the it's a contradiction if you want to claim that you have freedom of enterprise on the one hand and yet you restrict you know on the other here so it is a very terje subject and this is the question that war have to go to us in the letter to the chief seems to continue the trend when the american government tries to sketch over the media landscape the mighty still stand for now at least but the foreign agent label begins to loom over the horizon. and while the

u.s. is worried about chinese propaganda china is worried about u.s. spying beijing is in fact accusing washington of using its embassies around the world for covert surveillance places the u.s. accuses china for tagging in cyber security but the latest we get weeks really zsh owes the u.s. is guilty of throwing stones in glass houses the statement came after wiki leaks published a list of purchases made by u.s. embassies worldwide or the report highlighted spy gear reportedly made for cia and national security agency global operations beijing claims that u.s. embassies are being used to spy on foreign nations around the world including in fact of washington's own allies and diplomatic compounds are said to abort various forms of spy equipment that includes our cameras disguised as tie shirt buttons and caps the embassy is also purchased microphones night vision gear and secret g.p.s.

locators the u.s. has yet to respond to the claims but we spoke with a network security expert benjamin chel you told us that this would not just be a violation of international law but also a violation of agreements with beijing. the now infamous u.s. eavesdropping on it is already common knowledge to the world president's office alys openly criticize to us on the use of similar equipment before a sudden spike in behavior right oh right by late into the international laws and agreements not to mention mention trust for example the us and china have signed agreements a few years ago when stopping spying activities for commercial purposes and more than china is a peaceful country and we believe in women situation through trade but at the same time china is becoming very well equipped in mordor warfare expression bending the country in electronic or. christmas present has just become christmas past and christmas future is still to come inspired by the festive season germany

correspondent peter all over now gives his own rendition of a classic christmas tale hello hello and welcome comes under fire would you like to . store one involving three spirits which is quite similar but for many reasons quite different to a christmas carol well come with me to germany where i'm going to. be mercifully for german journalists abbreviated a k k has been elected to the role of leader of the christian democratic union party. taking over from the run the party for eighteen years was never going to be the task but as the clock struck worn a k.-k. was reminded of the she was past of the party tanking in the polls and also at the ballot box the c.d.u. and their allies took severe losses in twenty eight. area and in both

crucial local elections it is painful for the city you that we've lost so many votes the losses for the c.d.u. became wins for the green party on the center left and the un team in. ation alternative to germany right. after bringing tidings to kate the spirit was gone see this is how it's going to work you're with me so far right leaving the past in the past and switching to christmas present the second spirit to visit a k.k. showed her the state of play today. was the first choice of chancellor angela merkel to succeed she wasn't the first choice for a large groups of the c.d.u. party germany's conservatives wanted someone well a little more conservative. than weakening and a renewal at this time of migration and globalisation the modernisation must be

firmly grounded in national identity and traditional values in our actions and mindset it's uniting a group that fits the bill is pale male and stale if i was to be somewhat unfair that would be the main task for the woman now essentially the heir apparent to take over from mrs merkel when she steps down chancellor. so let's see what that spirit brings with it in the future there's a whole load of states and other local elections lined up in germany next year that's in a lot of ways will be seen or a vote of whether germans believe that k.k. is the woman to take the country forward i'm glad merkel plans to step down as chancellor and twenty twenty one and performances on the ballot box could decide the way it plays out so there we have it all story has come to an end and all

that's left for me to do is this and to wish you all the very best from us here at r.t. and hope that twenty nineteen brings you wealth health and happiness. so christmas has passed on the end of the year is near across the stories that made twenty eighteen and quirky media analyst lionel has his personal in the back. literally. said that white washing. oh maybe you could read it oh please stop it you know we're talking about. mark zuckerberg his testimony regarding facebook's social media and the loss of

data his appearance before face before congress was a disaster nothing short of a disaster next mainstream media news in general took a hit from every conceivable angle and i believe one of the readers might have been . the jim acosta moment next. marco and globalist in general with a disaster and it was a template and a learning lesson for i think most of the world. there is a revolution going on in the world right now regarding the new platforms a new bases for information delivery and platforms such as this are proving that this is the best source of news again why the ability to not

be limited by a commercial the ability to speak freely the ability to question more. the initial screech clamor of revolution. we saw with the yellow mass we sought elsewhere we saw a different. beginnings of what will be a cataclysm a change in the structure of the world is what was intended to be this global. congress's ation of the world change the. truth hurts still to come here on the program on the us judge orders pyongyang to pay a half a billion dollars in damages this to the family of a student who died after a stint in north korean detention look at whether the case could on

a hinge the future of kim summit details and. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy to. let it be an arms race. spearing dramatic development the only really exists i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time to sit down and. boy i think it certainly makes sense for for moscow to think strong in its context with the united states i just fear that the dominant view in this city is that it

is nearly impossible until the united states kind of settle the domestic divide of the environment and in d.c. he's you know i hate to see this. as work toxic but that's exactly what it is and then i think it's in a way you know you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. give you to join us to the us judge's order pyongyang to pay a half a billion dollars in damages to the family of a student who died after being released from north korean custody here's a look back at what happened to.

after all the detail to accomplish my plan i arrived in pyongyang on the morning of january first two thousand and sixteen i committed my. of taking out the important political slogan from the staff only area i even made the worst mistake of my own. by that point these. can save me. he was inclined he was dead he had a large scar on his right foot north korea is not. their terrorist take today's droid stage they purposely and intentionally injured i think you need to define torture the fact that he has an ox ache in several up at

the or brain damage caused by the lack of oxygen to brain we don't know what the request was and that is i mean could that have been torture at the time we don't know we don't have enough information about what happened to audio at that initial insult to draw any concrete conclusions following the death of. washington relisted north korea as a state sponsor of terrorism in nov twenty seventh st john yang rejects the allegation of torture the student prior to his death was getting ready for a second meeting with kim jong un we look at what consequences the wall case might have. an american family the warm beer is experienced north korea's brutality firsthand when north korea sees their son to use as a pawn in that to tell a tarion state's global shenanigans and face off with the united states the u.s. should be prudent and practice self control keeping in mind that if it persists in

the end to the d.p. r. k. smear campaign while i'm reasonably picking a quarrel with the d.p. r. k. over the human rights issue it will pay dearly for all the consequences rehashing accusations of badly evidence torture against north korea seems to be a step backwards for peace especially when only several months ago trump and kim were shaking hands and making nice. thank you for. the man you met today as you know has killed family members has starved his own people is responsible for the death of war here why are you so comfortable calling him very talented interesting how back of them trump attributed discussions on korean denuclearization to none other than otto himself or rather his death otto warm beer is a very special person and he will be for

a long time in my life his parents are good friends of mine i think without auto. this would not have happened and the north was set out to win as well with the u.s. potentially lifting sanctions but the script on the significance of those deaths has now been flipped aside from kim's destruction of a nuclear test site neither side has fulfilled the promises of the singapore summit despite all the hardy pledges neither denuclearization nor sanctions relief has taken place and looking forward to the next summit it's still unclear how both sides might use all those case in the political arena. tennis legend martina navratilova is in the spotlight after getting embroiled in a twitter spot over transgender people participating in the sport as women. clearly that can't be right it can't just be claimed herself a female and be able to compete against women there must be some standards and

having a penis and competing as a woman would not feed that standard. never lova apologized and deleted her tweet following the spate of criticism online including from cyclist rachel mckinnon who last year became the first transgender athlete to win a world title. that's transforming genitals did not play sports what part of a penis is related to tennis i help you see your way to regret and how you tremble this never until the street is just another variation on someone saying that if you have a penis you're not a woman let's be real and stop pretending she isn't transphobia just because she's reached and famous and in fact walk like pretensions you're the real hero here and martina the truth is painful to some but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be spoken it's incredibly disappointing that you've been intimidated into backing down from telling the truth never at

a level is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time and she's also widely known as an l.g. bt rights activist and this you of transgender athletes and sport these days is generating an awful lot of debate you can find more opinions on the subject online at www dot com for the meantime though my colleague madeira today will be here in half an hour's time to bring you more of your wednesday worldwide news headlines for the meantime thanks for joining us. more people feed the economy because they buy scratch tickets scratch off lottery tickets you know when i was living in the ghetto in new york you know the red apple grocery store uptown had the highest prices in town and the liquor stores are open and you buy you know more expensive in the ghetto and that's how you build an economy it's always built on the backs of the poor america was built on the slave market america was built on prison labor to give them

a look then they the good times of america the ne'er do wells it's all very swishy and swell that's over we got to go back to basics. country cool russia no one's ever no one has ever had a moment can never even heard about most.

when all were mine when the comb tempo or mine. changed there are fees eco to race from the level of the physiology that is what the level of the brain the brain as a formal plasticity can we why your itself and not just the brain bubbles the rest of the body responsible. so you. know there was.

the economic. theory. you know the yellow superman film you can see us in the field or you. know if you're in the hall it would be. almost few more with the baby when he was in the what i'm most muslim people but he also from the bomoh. will start to feel. i was in los angeles. march one thousand nine hundred one. i go over and i look out

the window and there they are. i was arrested that day our father and i wanted her to bargain that. i understand she area is not somebody and like a promo. she got me but now just to savor on the scale not as that's not my daughter so she wouldn't do this. and as a result they were under. i could not plead guilty to everything that they accused me of. not guilty and that ultimately i was convicted for conspiracy and die received twenty four year sentence. there's a way in which you have to see the conspiracy law as a very important tool of law enforcement if the crime is selling drugs

and some man in miami sells twenty kilos of cocaine to an undercover agent you want to ask who is the seller working where does the money go if the money goes back to a drug lord in colombia who's going to keep the proceeds he's in the conspiracy even though he actually wasn't there when that sale took place he's a conspirator and so part of the goal of the conspiracy law is to make sure that the most senior level all of those in the criminal organization are justly punished the problem is when you flip it around and the lowest level people in the criminal organization get punished just like the. and that's the big problem in the way in which the conspiracy laws are being applied. federal prison.